Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 2): THINKING yourself into Movement.

The Alexander Technique deals first with clearing your thinking so that you are able to move in the direction that you wish to move, and not where your unconscious habit would take you.

So, before setting out, you pause to remind yourself to let go of your habitual tension patterns. And then, after the pause, it is a matter of committing to your new direction.

Ultimately, direction is a movement from point A to point B. But, in the Alexander Technique, we’re much more concerned with how we travel that distance.

In bodily terms this “how” is determined by a “primary movement” that comes before any actual step we take in the direction of point B. This “primary movement”, which has its definite physical manifestation in the dynamic relationship between head-spine-ribs-girdles-limbs, is governed by two “mind” aspects.

The first “mind” aspect is body awareness (body map). During lessons we strive to raise our sensory appreciation of our body parts, and their relationships to each other and to the whole.

The second, and most important “mind” aspect, is perhaps unique to the Alexander Technique.

Having determined "how" we want to travel from A to B, the Alexander Technique concerns itself with making sure we start and keep moving in said direction in the manner that we decided. What we don’t want is our habitual tension patterns to sneak in on us the moment we spring into action and undo our “primary movement”.

There are infinite ways of getting from A to B. The “primary movement” ensures that we do so in such a way that we’re not interfering with our natural postural reflexes. Alexander called it “lengthening (and widening) in stature” which is akin to “decompressing your joints for movement” or “creating space for movement to occur.”

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Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 1): Clearing up your THINKING

Two of the top benefits of the Alexander Technique are health and posture. These are, however, not exclusive to the Technique.

The objective of the Alexander Technique could be described as “lightness and freedom of movement with minimum effort.”  But here once again the Alexander Technique does not hold a monopoly.

What distinguishes the Alexander Technique from other mind-body disciplines isn’t so much what comes at the end of the process, but rather the emphasis it puts on how we get there. And the key is in the THINKING PROCESS involved.

During Alexander Technique lessons you get to learn some of the anatomical and physiological aspects of movement, but this is not where the true core of the work lies. When we think about the structures that we’ll be moving, we’re not as interested in the actual movement as we are in the clarity of the thought and intention behind the movement.

The learning process in the Alexander Technique centers on clarifying the thinking process that gets you into movement. Alexander called it “quickening the conscious mind.” It’s about working with the reasoning, discriminating, creative and decision making capabilities of our minds.

If our bodies are not responding to our conscious wishes perhaps it isn’t because they are structurally unable to do so, but rather because we’re having unconscious wishes that conflict with our conscious ones. These “unconscious wishes” are made manifest in our muscle tension patterns.

We fail to realize this because the unconscious wishes have been there for so long they have become part of our “self-definition.” To go in a new conscious direction, we must first become aware of what direction we’re already unconsciously heading in… and let go of the conflicting wish.

This is really what the Alexander Technique is about: If you wish to go left, you’ve got to first pause and remind yourself to stop your habit of always going right. Because if you rush left without thinking, that is, without “inhibiting” your tendency to go right, you’ll end up going nowhere fully or satisfactorily.

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POSTURE FOR BEGINNERS (part 2): An (un)learning process.

Most sports and art forms have an “ideal posture” to practice them. Books and articles on them will describe this ideal posture, and sometimes offer muscular exercises that will help you achieve it.

However, if visually identifying what we need to change and doing muscles exercises to correct deviations from perfect form were enough, we’d all have good posture and no one would have back pain from bad postural habits.

This visual and muscular take on posture presents 3 problems.

Firstly, it assumes that he who receives the instructions knows his own body (has a clear body map) and can adopt the recommended posture without undue tension.

Secondly, it assumes that he who gives instruction and he who receives it, both interpret the concepts in the same way. Truth is we all have our own conceptual and sensorial definitions of our different body parts (“the neck” might not be exactly the same in my body map as in yours).

Thirdly, it assumes that we have to “work our postural muscles” with specific exercises, otherwise we’re bound to “go downhill” with gravity and age.* 

This view does not recognize that it is our heritage as homo sapiens sapiens to be proudly erect without undue effort if we do not interfere with the postural reflexes of our elegant design.

If instead we adopt the view that nature made us upright bipeds, and did so quite satisfactorily, then we shouldn’t so much “learn” to stand upright as “un-learn” to stand crookedly.

As homo sapiens sapiens we’re inheritors of a basic “software” that enables us to stand on our two feet in easy balance. This “software” is made up of a set of reflexes that we integrate, with greater or lesser success, during our early development. Since we all have the software, perhaps all we need is a little re-programming.

Hence, the best way to work on your posture is first to recognize what you must “stop doing.”

We must go to the deeper causes, to what is under the surface and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Self-knowledge is at the base of good posture.

* I don’t mean by this that you should not do exercise to correct muscle weaknesses that go hand in hand with bad posture and lack of joint mobility. What I do encourage you to do is to work those muscles ‘functionally’ and considering your body as a whole unit. You should be conscious of the balance and integration of your whole body during movement, and not just work the “weak muscles” in isolation.

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POSTURE FOR BEGINNERS (part 1): Getting to the Root of the Problem

Sometimes I too want quick solutions, instant solutions.

The problem is that these “express” solutions don’t last long; they are no more than a mask for the problem, not a real solution.

The same happens with postural problems and their “quick fixes”.

Posture is at the base of every discipline. Every sport or activity you practice has a certain ideal “form” or “posture” that allows you to perform the activity with the least amount of wear and tear and the highest degree of efficiency.

But saying, “a good posture is that in which, when seen from the side, the ear, shoulder, hip and ankle are aligned,” is merely giving a visual description of the result. This description does not include the steps of inner organization that allow for the external visible result.

The postural recommendations offered in every discipline have their logic. The problem is that we, who don’t know our own bodies, force ourselves into these recommended forms by sheer muscular effort. We end up habituating the requisite form but also the unnecessary tension of the effort.

How much better it would be if we could adopt these “postures” with total freedom, and be able to get out of them with equal liberty!

But… how?

The Alexander Technique is a “pre-technique”, it is the foundation for all other techniques and disciplines. The Alexander Technique teaches you how to organize your body in such a way that you can adopt in the most natural way any of the “postures” or “forms” recommended by other disciplines.

In fact, after working with the Alexander Technique your concept of “posture” changes. It shifts from being something “rigid” or “fixed” into something mobile and dynamic.

Posture stops being something you impose from the outside based on “how it should look” despite the tense muscular effort to hold it, and becomes something that springs from inside based on “how you perceive the shifting balance of your skeletal structure” and guided by a clear thought process which frees the muscles and decompresses the joints.

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A Little Bit of Perspective: Seeing the Whole Glass

 There are few things as easy as focusing on ‘what’s missing’ or ‘what went wrong’. What’s not so easy, what needs to be learnt and practiced, is to note ‘what was effectively done’ and ‘what went right.’

There exist neurological-evolutionary reasons why, as beings who for a long time where some other animal’s dinner, we’re predisposed to pay more attention to the possible dangers than to the present blessings.

That is why we need to train our ability to ‘also see the the half-full glass.’ This does not mean we ignore that half of the glass is effectively empty. What we’re trying to get is an image of the whole glass, with its two halves.

For example, I’m starting to run regularly. My plan is to do so at least 3 times a week and for at least 3 miles every time. I have a full plan that includes speed runs, endurance runs, tempo runs to build stamina… all the works.

Truth is I don’t always (or can’t always) stick to plan; and it would be so easy for me to be hard on myself for not doing so, and to focus only on how I fell short of my own high expectations.

But knowing how easy it is to see only the half-empty glass, I made an effort to see the half-full glass too. In that half I found the following: this week I went running 3 times (2 of those at 6.30am), I ran 3 miles each time, once I added speed work. The last run was with my sister, and actually we walked for half the distance, and ran the other half, but I enjoyed spending the time together and being able to chat.

True it is that I didn’t stick to plan as written, and perhaps that will put me back a few days to reaching my final objective (that’s my half-empty glass). However, I did so enjoy filling the other half! And that’s gotta be worth something too!

So, what glass are you trying to fill up today? You surely know how far you’re from a full glass. Don’t abandon your goal. But if you find that from staring at the half-empty glass you start to become depressed, I invite you to look at the half-full glass too and celebrate every drop that added its effort to getting you to where you are now.

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Celebrating Achievements: a blog about Honoring Rest

Yesterday, my partner Eduardo and I, gave our first joint workshop on the Mistery of Stopping and Taking Root in the Body. It was the culmination of several months of arduous work, of comings and goings, of long discussions on the topic and longer practice sessions of the work. Finally we made it, and by yesterday afternoon it was successfully over.

It takes a while to come to rest after such an impulse. The inertia continues for a while. After such a race, coming to rest is something we have to consciously if we mean to savor the sweet space in which we do nothing for a while. It is a regenerative space.

It is not easy to stop and savor. The impulse’s inertia makes me believe that there is stuff I need to plan, things to do, processes to evaluate and new decisions to be made.

There’ll be time for that… tomorrow. Today I rest. Today I do nothing. Today I enjoy what I’ve achieved. Today I don’t look at what could have been better, what remains to be corrected and adjusted. Today I don’t look ahead to the road that’s left to travel. There’ll be time for that… tomorrow.

It’s so difficult sometimes to just stop and give ourselves permission to simply enjoy our achievements. We’re always noting what was missing, what wasn’t perfect, what is left to correct.

There will always be something to do. Every new achievement opens up doors to new avenues for improvement and discovery. When we reach the top of the hill we always find that the road goes on, that this hill has to be climbed down to climb the next one in line.

But enjoying the road implies savoring not only the effort of the climb, those moments when we feel we’re “doing something productive.” Walking the path also implies learning to savor the rests, those moments when we “do nothing” other than enjoy the vistas of what we’ve already travelled.

Therefore today… today I rest. Today I enjoy the view from here. Today I say thank you for having been able to walk this far.

Victoria

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On Being a Beginner: A blog about savoring the process.

 I ran my first 5K today. I hadn’t run a race since my teen years.

I didn’t race… I ran, just that, my pace, my way, my world.

Being of a competitive and self-demanding nature, just being able to run for my own enjoyment is a huge accomplishment.

It all started about a month ago when my sister signed up to run her first 5K and started training. Something in her way of going about it inspired me. My sister doesn’t seem to run to beat anybody or prove anything.

So I started running too. Easy. Slowly. At my own pace. Trying not to strive for Olympic Gold just yet.

Still, the competitive-bug will come flying and prying any time I lose focus. It will whisper in my ear: train harder, run faster, run farther, make it worth your while.

So I stop.

I don’t have to “be somebody”, I don’t have to win anything nor prove anything to anybody. Running is simply good for me, for my body, for my psique.

That bug is no more than a habit of thought, a habit of my way of being.

Therefore, when I recognize it for what it is, I treat it like any other old habit.

I stop. I greet it like an old friend. And I let it go. I return to my body, to my breathing, to my inner organization. I remember my purpose.

Today my purpose was to run, listening to my body, collecting my thoughts, following my breath. Only that mattered. All the rest I could leave behind or watch them pass me by, as if they were other runners in the race.

I return to myself, to the wonder of being able to run, to the sensation of moving. I return to the present.

That is all.

Victoria

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